First week in Louisiana

Three cousins before they left the MTC

On their way to Jackson, Mississippi

  I absolutely loved Conference. It was so amazing. I loved watching it as a missionary and being able to be in tune with the spirit. I didn't have all the feelings of the things that I need to work on. It was more a message of peace and comfort and even though there are trials it will be okay. We watched the YW's broadcast as well and one of them talked about that trials can either be a springboard for growth or a roadblock and I am really trying to make my trials a springboard for growth. I have some pretty rough moments this week but because of my wonderful companions and wonderful Heavenly Father I have been able to make it through them and been able to learn and move forward because of it. We are a car share area. So we have the car one week and then the elders have the car the next week. So when we don't have the car we bike. I borrowed a bike from one of the other sisters in the zone because I can't afford to buy a bike here and then in Australia. But they are taking good care of me so there really is nothing to worry about. We get fed every single day and sometimes twice a day. The only meal I have eaten at the apartment all week is breakfast.. And if we don't exercise more I definitely am going to get fat! :) haha 

We have visited a couple of people this week and my companions say that I am a miracle worker because all of the other times they have tried to visit someone they aren't home so I guess Heavenly Father knows I'm here :) We committed one lady to come to church with us and read the BOM but she didn't come. So hopefully when we see her this week we will be able to get her to come. We met a lady while we were out tracting. On a completely random street that just popped into my companions head. But we knocked on the door and we sat down and we were able to teach her the Restoration. As we did she was talking to us and she said normally she doesn't let people in but she had a weird feeling that she just needed to let us in. So hopefully we will be able to go back and see her. She really is a nice lady. When I meet these people I feel a love for them that I didn't know I had in me. It really has been a cool experience. I love that I can just meet someone off the street and instantly love them. I have been struggling this week though with staying awake. One of my companions and I were at a members house visiting with them and we both just slept. It was really bad but also really funny. They made fun of us for that one for quite sometime :). 
 

At the Catfish Festival

One of the members that is taking good care of her

Her companions

 We went to the Catfish Festival on Saturday. Which is this huge festival where everyone just comes and sets up booths and just shares their talents. The Stake president here set up the a booth for us and there was like 15 missionaries there and we handed out pamphlets and BOM and who knows if anyone kept them or what but hopefully we planted at least one seed. I got completely fried because the Louisiana sun and I are not friends. :) But we woke up at like 4:30 Saturday and went to the festival until 6 pm that evening. It was a rough day and when we got back we went to bed at like 8. Then we basically slept through Church. Okay well my comps did. I didn't. I actually played the piano in primary at Church. So that was fun :) They don't have anyone really who plays so I guess that job just automatically falls to me. :) But I did certainly have my ups and downs, but as I was studying my scriptures I read so many that said pray always and so that's what I did. One of my teachers in the MTC writes his prayers down and I just wanted to try that. I wrote down what I asked for and then I really truly listened. As I did that I definitely got an answer to my prayers. I definitely feel like my Visa is coming soon. I feel like possibly this week but if not I just felt that I needed to have faith. One of my comps is on her last transfer and she said she feels like I will be gone before she is done. All of us feel like my visa will come sooner then later. But My comp said she had a dream last night that my visa came and we were all freaking out, so maybe that was a vision of the future. :) I hope so :) But as long as I'm still here I will keep pressing forward the best that I can. Well I love you all! Sorry this email is really scattered but it really is all I have time for.  I love you all. Have a great week
Love
Benji

6 minutes from Duck Dynasty

As we learned that Lexie is serving in the area of Duck Dynasty fame, we watched some episodes last night.  She is a mere 6 minutes from the Duck Commander warehouse.

Well I'm with my new companions now.  They are both absolutely wonderful. I have felt quite overwhelmed though. I mean I wasn't prepared to come to Mississippi, but it has been a pretty good day. When I got to West Monroe, I met my comps and we drove over to the apt, got my suitcases out and then we went shopping at Walmart. I got good old food and some other necessities but as we were going over to buy some shampoo, we saw this lady and one of my comps just commented on her purple shirt. I said I loved purple too and we just got into this huge long conversation with her about her house, and family, and how she lives and all this stuff. She really is so nice. She was telling us about how her Granddaughter absolutely loves to read the Bible and how she takes it to school and reads it to all of her friends. We were having such a good talk. She talked about how she loves going to other churches and finding out what they believe in. We asked if she had ever heard of our church, and she said she had a brother in law who had, but he's dead now. She has heard some about the BOM and things. And as we were talking I felt that we should introduce her to the BOM again and ask if she would read it. One of my comps pulled a BOM out of her bag and we asked her if she would read it and she said she would. We wrote our names and number in the front and asked here about going to Church. She said she would go, but who knows if she really will. But this whole time we were talking to her, I kept feeling that this is why I am out here serving a mission. To be able to meet people and talk to them and ask them about their lives and introduce them to the Gospel. The spirit was there and she was saying how she thanked God that he placed her in Walmart at the same time so that she could just meet us. I know that this is why I'm here. Today definitely was a rough day. A lot of ups and downs and Satan was really working on me and telling me why are you even in the South. You know nothing about the South you can't do this. But because of that I was able to pray to Heavenly Father, just pleading with him to let me know that I can do this. That this mission is what is the right thing for me. That no matter where I am the work is the same. God's children need the Gospel and I can give it to them with Heavenly Fathers help. I felt so reassured after that meeting in Walmart and I know that that was not a coincidence. God puts people in our lives for a reason and I can do this with his help. It doesn't matter how hard it is or how many people I do meet because all of God's children need the Gospel. 

After we left Walmart we went back home and unpacked the groceries and then we went straight over to a dinner appt. with a lady in the area. She is such a nice lady. She made us fried chicken and potato salad. Super tasty :) And then after we practiced teaching the first lesson with her. She really was so helpful and she talked a lot about her family and how she wished that her kids would find the Gospel just as she had done. I was able to testify that God has a plan for us and he will give everyone of his children an opportunity to have the chance to join the church. No one will be left behind. God loves his children and so even if they don't get the chance to have the Gospel here they will be able to have it in the next life. All things will be made right in the eternities. We talked about how this life is learning how to have a stronger more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father because without it I would not be sitting here in Louisiana right now. I probably would have gone home as soon as I found out I was coming here. But I truly do know that God has placed me here for a reason, whether it be because of the companions that I will have or someone that I need to touch and bless their life. But whatever it is I will find out, and I will take advantage of every opportunity. This is God's work. I really am learning to rely fully on him. As I did that today he blessed me and I was able to be helped to have an experience that would make me love being here. Even though I have only been here for one day, I already love the South. All the people we have met today are really nice. They love to talk to you and I can't wait to see what kind of experiences I will have.

I talked to the Mission President today and he said that as soon as he hears about my visa he will let me know and then he will come pick me up. Then I will probably sleep in the mission home that night and then go straight off to Australia the next day. So that really could be tomorrow or next week or a month. But as long as I am here I am going to take advantage of the time that has been given me. I really can't believe I am here but I really do love being here. I love the people that I have met and I am grateful that I have a testimony of my Savior and this Gospel. Life just wouldn't be the same without it.

Well I love you all. I really hope you are having a great time with everyone. Make sure you keep living the Gospel and work each day to become more like a disciple of Christ. Not just a Mormon. We have a lot of those but we follow Jesus Christ. He set the example and we need to follow him.
Love you all
Sister Benjamin. or "Benji" as everyone is calling me here :)

Made it to Mississippi, and now in Louisiana

Hey Hey!

I'm here in good old Mississippi! I really like it! Even though it is quite humid! Woot! Haha :) It feels really strange being here because I'm definitely not prepared at all for the South. I know really nothing about the people and I feel like I'm going to say stupid things to them and they will think I'm a freak. But hopefully not. The Mission President is absolutely wonderful. They are so kind and I'm so glad. I didn't even know who they were when I walked off the plane, but that's understandable because I'm here not in Australia. The other sisters who are here waiting for visas are all really nice. We are having such a good time together so that's good. I was worried but it is all working out fine. :) We had a little orientation meeting and they talked about putting 2 feet in the mission field and that is so true. I can't be thinking about being anywhere else. This is the work I'm supposed to be doing. I know I am supposed to be here and with the Lord's help I can do anything.We slept in the Mission home last night and it felt so good to be able to sleep in a real house not in the crazy MTC. I love the feeling that  home gives. I'm so glad to be able to be here. I'm freaking out, but it will be great. I'm relying completely on the Lord to carry me through this, taking it one day at a time. If I think too far ahead I can't handle it. All the things I have to do just seem too much, but one day at a time with the Lord's help will be just fine. They put me in a trio. I haven't met them just yet but I bet they will be great. They put us in trios because they said as soon as our visas come they will just ship us right out. My first area is in Louisiana in West Monroe. I can't believe that I'm going to Louisiana. I really truly can't even believe I'm here. It all feels very surreal. I still feel like its a dream and one day I will just wake up.

I can't believe that I'm actually starting in the field today. It really is surreal. I'm really scared but it will be good. Heavenly Father will watch out for me and protect me. I'm still praying every day for my Visa and you should do the same. But as long as I'm here, I will serve my heart out. It doesn't matter where I am, the work is the same. Everyone is God's children and they all need the Gospel. 

I really do love you all. I'm so grateful for the support and strength you are all giving me. Thank you for all your letters. It truly was so wonderful. 

I'm really glad to hear you are all doing well. I know the Lord is watching out for you just as much as he is for me. No matter where we are Heavenly Father sees us, knows us and will take care of us. I hope you have a good week! Love you!

Sister Benjamin

Sister Benjamin in Jackson, Mississippi

We got a short phone call today from Alexis to tell us that she is being temporarily reassigned to the Mississippi Jackson mission until her visa comes.  She will leave the MTC early Monday morning. Her cousins have also been reassigned while awaiting their visas.  One is headed to Kennewick, WA and another to Houston, TX.

Last MTC letter

 If Lexie's visa does not come this week, it looks like she will be temporarily reassigned until it does come through.  She should find out today (April 4th) where she will be going until the visa comes.  If the visa happens to come in the next two days she will go to Australia on Monday.  Either way she should be leaving the MTC on Monday.

Well this week certainly has been challenging but I have had some of the strongest spiritual experience so far. So I'd say overall it has been good. :) Since we have been delayed we have been going deeper into the other lessons and our teacher was teaching us about the restoration and she wanted us to try to have an experience like Joseph Smith. To go into prayer with a question that has been on our mind a lot and then listen for what God has to say. I was really struggling with why I was still at the MTC and why was I even serving a mission? So we went in and I prayed, really hard. I basically prayed with my whole soul is what it felt like to me. And then after I was just sitting there trying to listen to what God had to say to me, and I felt this huge feeling of peace come over me. And Heavenly Father really  helped me to see a lot of things; like how much my testimony has been strengthened just in the month I have been gone, and how much stronger that has made me as a person. He helped me to feel actual love for the scriptures. I never really had felt that before. I mean I enjoyed reading them, and I knew they were true but I never really loved them all that much. And I just felt this over powering feeling of love for them. That is the Book that will get me back to my Heavenly Father. That is the book that gives every step that I need to follow. It gives me peace and comfort when I need it. And then to why I am serving a mission, I remembered this time my Freshman year of college and one of my teachers told me to pray for my future family and he said he knew we would have a good experience with that. So I did that and as I was praying I saw basically a vision but more like a picture of me kneeling around a bed with my family. My husband was across the bed from me and there was a lot of kids around us. Heavenly Father helped me to remember that experience and told me that the main reason I am here serving is for my future family. I will be blessed by this experience, and because of that I will be able to share that with my future husband and children. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had in a long time.

Another really great experience was one of the lessons we taught to our investigator Fred. We were just kind of struggling with what we should teach him, for him to really understand and feel God's love and care for him. So we prayed to know what we should do and then Sister Tanner said she felt strongly that we needed to sing I Believe in Christ to him. So we practiced it and we sang him the 1 and 4 verse. When we were singing the spirit was so STRONG, almost overpowering. Fred was crying and I almost had to stop at points because the spirit was so strong. I really felt the power of God in that room. There is a scripture in D&C that talks about as one teaches with the spirit and one listens both are edified and uplifted together. I definitely felt that. I felt God's love for Fred as well as for me. Really being a missionary is the best decision I could have made. I never would have been able to come this far without my mission.

On Sunday we had a Sacrament meeting all together for Easter. We were all able to take the Sacrament together. There was over 3000 missionaries and at least 100 elders passing. The Spirit was really strong and it was really amazing to have so many people taking the Sacrament together, with all of us recommitting ourselves to follow the Savior for the upcoming week. Bishop Causse came and spoke from the Presiding Bishopric and that was really great. He spoke a lot about Christ and what he has done for us. One of the things that really stood out to me was he asked, "How well do we really know our Savior? Do we know him independently from everyone else? Do we know what he has done for us personally? It really hit me hard. So I challenge you if you haven't done that, or you don't know that, pray and ask God what The Savior really has done personally for you. It really is a cool experience.

Then Sunday night Sheri Dew came and gave a devotional. It was so good. She is such an inspiring lady. I can't believe all the things she has done. She is so strong and powerful and just great. She talked a lot about the Savior as well and one thing that struck me really hard was that Christ is the only chance that we have. I think I knew that I just never thought of it in that way before. Christ is our only chance for happiness, peace, joy, hope and us getting back to live with Heavenly Father again. He isn't only our last chance he is the Only Chance.

In class on Monday our teacher had us go on a picture walk, just looking at pictures of the Savior and really trying to listen to the spirit. Before I tell you what happened, we went to the travel office this week and they told us that they had submitted our names for reassignment. And that we will find out where we are going on Thursday. But if our visas come they will cancel our reassignment, but I was just feeling really stressed about that. I just felt like I didn't know what was going to happen to me. That my life was turning upside down every other day and I was just feeling really discouraged. So when I was looking at all the pictures of Christ, I felt very strongly to just have faith. Have faith in God. God has a plan for me and he is watching out for me. He will not let me down. Even if I go on reassignment that is where I am supposed to be. The scripture that says Be Not Afraid Only Believe, kept going through my head. I really needed that comfort because I really struggle walking in the unknown and so God helped me to feel comforted. And I mean who wouldn't feel comforted when an all powerful being is watching out for you. Then we were talking and we read 2 Nephi 9 and a couple of the verses say something like How Great is our God. and I just kept thinking, but really He is amazing. He loves each one of us so much and He will do anything to protect us and bring us back to Him. I feel that I definitely have a very personal relationship with God now that I didn't have before.

We then had a Devotional last night and one of the 70 came and spoke and he talked a lot about how much we really know about Enduring to the End. He said that one of the best ways to learn how to prepare to Endure to the End is by serving a mission. It definitely is not an easy task and it takes a lot of work but by enduring to the end of our mission we will be much better at striving to follow God when we get home from our missions. One thing I really loved though is he talked about us adjusting back to normal life when we get home. But he said that when we get back we shouldn't be adjusting back into the world. We are so close to God on our missions and that is how we should be living our life always. When I get back I'm supposed to be different because i should be striving to be closer to God. And that is what I want to do. :)

Well I hope you are having a GREAT time in Arches. I loved it when we went last time :)

Love you

Lexie